If you need to fettle your BMW enduro for hardcore long-distance racing, the company to speak to is HPN. The German outfit has an illustrious history, largely built on preparing the motorcycles that took BMW to four Dakar Rally victories in the 1980s. HPN built this particular bike for the Baja 1000 in 1985, trimming the wet weight down to a mere 155kg (340lbs) with fuel. The suspension travel is a plush 300mm (12 inches) front and rear, plenty enough to soak up the big hits. And of course, it’s got that brilliant retro Teutonic styling, but this time, in the slightly unfamiliar colors of red. This machine is superficially similar to BMW’s ‘Africa’ enduro bike, the R80G/S Paris-Dakar, but the race version is known as the BMW GS980R. HPN bored out the air-cooled boxer motor from 797 to 980cc—bumping up the power up from around 50 to 69hp—and just about every other component is either heavily modified or custom made—down to that white shield on the front wheel, which hides a 260mm Brembo disk. BMW riders Gaston Rahier and Eddy Hau won the large-capacity class in the 1985 Baja 1000: if you want to emulate their successes, take your pick from HPN’s range of hardcore modified BMW enduros. Read More »
What’s former editor David Edwards been up to since leaving Cycle World magazine last year? He tells us he’s been putting his free time and severance pay to good use, “Buying cool old mo’cycles!” One of them is this custom 1967 Norton P11 special, a machine designed as a desert racer. The P11 concept started life as a prototype reportedly built by Californian Norton distributor Bob Blair, who installed an Atlas 750cc twin in the lightweight frame of a Matchless G85 CS. The history of Edwards’ bike tallies with this: “It was purchased new by a Northern California roadrace/flat-track tuner, who rode the wheels off the thing,” he says. A long-term rebuild started in the ’70s then carried over into the ’80s: “This guy massaged just about every component of the bike. Grafted onto the stock P11 cases are the barrels, primary cover and timing chest from a Commando, and it breathes through big ol’ pumper Dell’Ortos.” The forks are Ceriani, wearing early Kosman rotors and Japanese calipers, and Edwards reckons the seat is from a Yamaha DT1. The oil tank looks like a Harley XR750 item. “Apparently the tuner lavished an immense amount of time on this project, but sadly he never got to ride it again before his untimely death,” says Edwards. “When I bought the bike at auction, there were no fluids aboard and the insides of the mufflers were soot-free. Currently it’s being recommissioned so it’ll make noise once more—and I’m guessing lots of it!” Despite being over 40 years old, a stock ’67 P11 (or ‘Ranger’ in 1968) is no slouch: around 50hp propels just 170kg, and Edwards’ bike has an even better power-to-weight ratio. Who needs a Triumph Scrambler when you’ve got one of these? Besides collecting oddball bikes, by the way, Edwards is also consulting for the Motoring Department of the Bonhams auction house in the USA. Read More »
Saturday 7th August, 2010
Of all the Asian countries, Japan has the highest profile in the custom scene, and has even exported the whole genre of SR400 modifications. But other countries are getting more press now, with Australian shop Deus moving into Bali and the whole Indonesian scene gaining momentum. Now it looks like the turn of Taiwan, helped by classy new magazines such as Free Biker. This hunkered-down Sportster custom is called Guerrilla: it’s just graced the pages of Free Biker, and comes from an upstart new Taipei shop called Rough Crafts. According to builder Winston Yeh, “The initial idea for this bike was to get it to look custom, without being too ‘far out’—because Taiwan has a crazy regulation that all bikes bigger than 250cc have to pass an annual exam after they are older than five years. The bike is compared to the stock picture and if it looks too different, it will be hard to pass. With that in mind, I tried to create a bike that has similar profile to stock. So you probably think it’s ‘normal’ from far away, but you can see the customization when up close.” The bike takes Harley’s Nightster theme a step further, with a chopped front end, new bars, bodywork and lighting—and a terrific exhaust system that adds to the compact, muscular vibe. Excellent work from a builder worth keeping an eye on, so check out Rough Crafts’ blog for regular updates. Read More »
Thursday 5th August, 2010
In the Honda canon of custom-friendly motorcycles, the GB range tends to be overshadowed by the mighty CB750 and CB550. But the GB250 Clubman has a lot going for it, including bulletproof reliability. And it’s the perfect platform for a lightweight, about-town café racer. The bike was released as a Japan-only model in 1983, using the CBX250 motor—a DOHC thumper with a four-valve head and twin exhaust pipes. In stock form, the engine pumps out around 30hp at 9,500rpm, and drives through a six-speed ’box. And with a dry weight of just 130kg, progress is brisk. The machine in the pictures is from the legendary Gravel Crew shop of Kuwana City, an outfit best known for their meticulous Yamaha SR400 customs. The dated, 80s-style bodywork of the original GB250 has been removed, and a slender new tank and seat unit installed. To complete the look, the engine now breathes through an elegant set of custom pipes—a Gravel Crew trademark. For a chuckable, affordable and reliable café racer to get from point A to point B, it doesn’t get much better than this. Read More »
Wednesday 4th August, 2010
You can do motorcycle touring the easy way, or the hard way. The easy way is to ride a modern, cushy dual-sport machine, where the toughest decision is what to pack. The hard way is the Motorcycle Cannonball, an endurance run for pre-1916 motorcycles that starts next month. The vintage Harley shown here is one of the machines that will be doing the trip—and I don’t know about you, but that seat makes me wince. The Motorcycle Cannonball is not a leisurely loop over a long weekend; according to the website, “Riders will virtually dip their tread in the salty waters of the East Coast’s Atlantic Ocean as the officials wave the green flag, then come to rest some 3,320 miles later, at the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean’s West Coast.” Read More »
Drags & Racing is an Italian custom shop owned by the flamboyant Dino Romano, and he’s been putting out a steady stream of custom Triumphs and Harleys for twenty years now. Dino’s latest creation is this Bonneville, and he’s done a remarkable job in giving a modern Triumph an authentic vintage look. (So we’ll forgive him the ubiquitous Steve McQueen reference—the bike is called ‘La Grande Fuga’, meaning Great Escape.) There’s a suicide shift on the left, the exhaust has been cannibalized from an Iveco van, and the seat is a genuine 1939 Harley-Davidson item. The matte green military paint is equally authentic: it’s from a sixty-year-old cache discovered in a Czech warehouse. La Grande Fuga has attracted a lot of attention on the Italian custom scene, and Dino can build you one for around US$24,000. Given the level of customizing going on here—with virtually all bodywork and controls being hand-made—that sounds like a pretty good deal. [Via moto.it.] Read More »
If I were looking for a lifestyle change, hanging out in Bali building custom bikes and surfboards would be near the top of my list. The guys at Deus have obviously been thinking along the same lines, because they’ve just set up the Deus Canggu bengkel (workshop). And this bike is one of the first fruits of their labors. Called ‘Inari’, after the Japanese Shinto spirit of fertility and success, it’s based on a humble 1976 Honda CB100—one of the most popular bikes in Indonesia. Virtually nothing of the original machine remains, though: the engine has almost doubled in size to 180cc, and the front and rear suspension is from a Yamaha 225. And despite Inari’s diminutive size, she carries her Bratstyle influence well. Yes, she’s a lightweight bike, but the motorcycling environment in Bali is very different to what most of us are used to—and the local custom scene reflects that. Here, Deus is creating smaller bikes with robust suspension and simple mechanicals that don’t require a degree in electronics to fix. According to their Bali guys, “We are currently building ‘The Deus Temple of Enthusiasm’ in Canggu. This 2000m2 site will be a clever combination of new and 100-year-old traditional Indonesian wooden houses, taking reference from a Kampung, or traditional Indonesian home village. This somewhat eclectic collection of buildings will house the showroom, art gallery, workshop facilities, photographic studio, artists studio, and even a surfboard shaping bay. Connected by a wide veranda full of tables and chairs is the Deus Cafe, where eventually Canggu locals, pro surfers and artists will rub elbows with riders gassing up on caffeine whilst out on their Bali excursions. A melting pot of ideas and ideologies, a Warung (stall) of Knowledge.” It’s a good location: Canggu is an area increasingly popular with expats, with the new Canggu Club nearby, and just up the road is a beautiful house owned by Deus founder Dare Jennings. I’m green with envy already. [Check out the Deus Bali blog for more images of their bikes. And if you're in Sydney, look out for these beautiful Bali-made tanks in the HQ soon.]
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